One third of customers prefer digital games

According to the NPD Group's 2012 Online Gaming Report, more people prefer digital games than you might think.

Their findings indicated that one third of customers would opt for a digital copy of a game over a physical one — an increase of 10% from last year. The data also revealed that 40 percent of people who purchased a digital game had bought at least one game in both formats.

“Gamers are growing more comfortable in acquiring content online, as we saw the preference for digital increase ten percentage points from last year,” said analyst Liam Callahan. “The proliferation of free games on mobile devices has reduced the barrier of entry for online gaming to zero, fueling an increase in acquisition.”

NPD conducted the study over three months and included 8,500 participants.

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